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View AmendmentCurrent Amendment: 1 to Bill 3853
The Committee on Education and Public Works proposes the
following Amendment No. 1 to H. 3853
(COUNCIL\AGM\3853C003.AGM.AB13):

Reference is to the bill as introduced.

Amend the bill, as and if amended, Section 59-40-55(B)(11), as
contained in SECTION 2, by deleting the item in its entirety and
inserting:

/ (11)permanently close any
charter school at the conclusion of the school year after
receiving the lowest performance level rating as defined by the
federal accountability system for three consecutive years in
accordance Section 59-40-110(E). /

Amend the bill further, Section 59-40-110, as contained in
SECTION 6, by deleting the SECTION in its entirety and
inserting:

/ SECTION 6. Section
59-40-110 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 164 of 2012,
is further amended to read:

"Section 59-40-110.
(A) A charter must be approved or
renewed for a period of ten school years; however, the charter
only may be revoked or not renewed under the provisions of
subsection (C) of this section. The sponsor annually shall
evaluate the conditions outlined in subsection (C). The annual
evaluation results must be used in making a determination for
nonrenewal or revocation.
(B) A charter renewal
application must be submitted to the school's sponsor one
hundred twenty calendar days before the end of the school year
for term of the charter contract, and it must contain:
(1)
a report on the progress of the charter school in
achieving the goals, objectives, pupil achievement standards,
and other terms of the initially approved charter application;
and
(2)
a financial statement that discloses the costs of
administration, instruction, and other spending categories for
the charter school that is understandable to the general public
and that allows comparison of these costs to other schools or
other comparable organizations, in a format required by the
State Board of Education.; and(3)any proposed material changes to the current
charter or charter school contract to be implemented in the next
ten year charter term.
(C) A charter must be
revoked or not renewed by the sponsor if it determines that the
charter school:
(1)
committed a material violation of the conditions,
standards, performance expectations, or procedures
provided for in the charter application or charter school
contract, or both;
(2)
failed to meet or make reasonable
progress,the academic performance standards and
expectations as defined in the charter application or
charter school contract, or both, toward pupil
achievement standards identified in the charter
application;
(3)
failed to maintain its books and records according to
generally accepted accounting principles or failed to create an
appropriate system of internal control, or bothmeet
generally accepted standards of fiscal management; or
(4)
violated any provision of law from which the charter
school was not specifically exempted.
(D) A sponsor
summarily may revoke any charter school that is determined by
the sponsor to pose an imminent threat of harm to the health or
safety of students, or both, based on documented and clear and
convincing data. (E)Any
charter school shall automatically and permanently close at the
conclusion of the school year in which the school first becomes
subject to automatic closure for receiving the lowest
performance level rating as defined by the federal
accountability system for three consecutive years. The
determination of closure is considered final. Automatic closure
shall not apply to any charter school serving fifty percent or
more students with disabilities or any charter school designated
as an Alternative Education Campus (AEC) by its sponsor as
outlined in Section 59-40-111.(F) At least
sixty days before not renewing or terminating a charter school,
the sponsor shall notify in writing the charter school's
governing body of the proposed action. The notification shall
state the grounds for the proposed action in reasonable detail.
Termination must follow the procedure provided for in this
section. (E)(G)
The existence of another charter granting authority
must not be grounds for the nonrenewal or revocation of a
charter. Grounds for nonrenewal or revocation must be only
those specified in subsection (C) of this section. (F)(H)
The charter school's governing body may request in
writing a hearing before the sponsor within fourteen days of
receiving notice of nonrenewal or termination of the charter.
Failure by the school's governing body to make a written request
for a hearing within fourteen days must be treated as
acquiescence to the proposed action. Upon receiving a timely
written request for a hearing, the sponsor shall give reasonable
notice to the school's governing body of the hearing date. The
sponsor shall conduct a hearing before taking final action. The
sponsor shall take final action to renew or not renew a charter
by the last day of classes in the last school year for which the
charter school is authorized. (G)(I)
A charter school seeking renewal may submit a
renewal application to another charter granting authority if the
charter school has not committed a material violation of the
provisions specified in subsection (C) of this section and the
sponsor refuses to renew the charter. In such cases, the
charter school shall continue to receive local funding pursuant
to Section 59-40-140(A). However, the charter school is not
eligible to receive one hundred percent of the base student cost
from the State. The charter school only is eligible to receive
the percentage of the base student cost previously received as a
school in its former district. (H)(J)
A decision to revoke or not to renew a charter
school may be appealed to the Administrative Law Court pursuant
to the provisions of Section 59-40-90. Upon appeal to the
Administrative Law Court, there is no automatic stay of the
revocation or nonrenewal decision. Pending resolution of the
appeal, the charter school also may move before the
Administrative Law Court for imposition of a stay of the
revocation or nonrenewal on the grounds that an unusual hardship
to the charter school will result from the execution of the
sponsor's decision.(K)Prior
to any public charter school closure, the sponsor shall develop
a public charter school closure protocol to ensure timely
notification to parents, orderly transition of students and
student records to new schools, and proper disposition of school
funds, property, and net assets in accordance with the
requirements of this chapter. The protocol shall specify tasks,
timelines, and responsible parties, including delineating the
respective duties of the school and the sponsor. In the event
of a public charter school closure for any reason, the sponsor
shall oversee and work with the closing school to ensure a
smooth and orderly closure and transition for students and
parents, as guided by the closure protocol." /

Amend the bill further by adding an appropriately numbered
penultimate SECTION to read:

/ SECTION ___. Section
59-40-65(A)(1) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 26 of 2007, is
amended to read:

"(1) provide each
student enrolled in the program with a course or courses of
online or computer instruction approved by the State
Department of Educationcharter school's sponsor
that must meet or exceed the South Carolina content and grade
specific standards. Students enrolled in the program of online
or computer instruction must receive all instructional materials
required for the student's program;" /